Virtues of the Quran's Chapters and Verses
Special Virtues of the Qur'an's Chapters and Verses 24
عَنْ جُبَيْرِ بْنِ نُفَيْرٍ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ النَّوَّاسَ، بْنَ سَمْعَانَ الْكِلاَبِيَّ يَقُولُ سَمِعْتُ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ " يُؤْتَى بِالْقُرْآنِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَأَهْلِهِ الَّذِينَ كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ بِهِ تَقْدُمُهُ سُورَةُ الْبَقَرَةِ وَآلُ عِمْرَانَ " . وَضَرَبَ لَهُمَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ثَلاَثَةَ أَمْثَالٍ مَا نَسِيتُهُنَّ بَعْدُ قَالَ " كَأَنَّهُمَا غَمَامَتَانِ أَوْ ظُلَّتَانِ سَوْدَاوَانِ بَيْنَهُمَا شَرْقٌ أَوْ كَأَنَّهُمَا حِزْقَانِ مِنْ طَيْرٍ صَوَافَّ تُحَاجَّانِ عَنْ صَاحِبِهِمَا.
Jubayr ibn Nufayr said: I heard al-Nawwās ibn Samʿān al-Kilābī say: I heard the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) say, ‘The Qur’an and its people who used to act upon it will be brought on the Day of Resurrection, with Sūrat al-Baqarah and Āl ʿImrān at their head.’ The Messenger of Allah gave them three comparisons which I have not forgotten since. He said, ‘They are like two clouds, or two black canopies with an opening between them, or two flocks of birds in formation, pleading on behalf of their companion.’
Translation notes
وَضَرَبَ لَهُمَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ثَلاَثَةَ أَمْثَالٍ مَا نَسِيتُهُنَّ بَعْدُ قَالَ " كَأَنَّهُمَا غَمَامَتَانِ أَوْ ظُلَّتَانِ سَوْدَاوَانِ بَيْنَهُمَا شَرْقٌ أَوْ كَأَنَّهُمَا حِزْقَانِ مِنْ طَيْرٍ صَوَافَّ تُحَاجَّانِ عَنْ صَاحِبِهِمَا.
The phrase بَيْنَهُمَا شَرْقٌ is unclear here; the English witness renders it as light between them, while the source wording does not make that interpretation certain.
What sense of شَرْقٌ is intended in this comparison, and should the witness rendering be followed?
وَضَرَبَ لَهُمَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ثَلاَثَةَ أَمْثَالٍ مَا نَسِيتُهُنَّ بَعْدُ قَالَ " كَأَنَّهُمَا غَمَامَتَانِ أَوْ ظُلَّتَانِ سَوْدَاوَانِ بَيْنَهُمَا شَرْقٌ أَوْ كَأَنَّهُمَا حِزْقَانِ مِنْ طَيْرٍ صَوَافَّ تُحَاجَّانِ عَنْ صَاحِبِهِمَا.
The Arabic says “their companion” (صَاحِبِهِمَا); the witness renders this as one who recited them, which specifies the person more narrowly.
Should the translation retain the less specific “their companion” pending review?